History of Celtic F.C. (1994–present)

Bulk holders such as Michael Kelly, Chris White and David Smith insisted on being paid around £300 per share, leaving McCann resentful over the disappearance of funds that could have been used in the resuscitation of the business.

[13] During the pre-season, defender Tony Mowbray persuaded his teammates to engage in a pre-match huddle prior to a friendly against German side Kickers Emden in an effort to boost the players' camaraderie and togetherness.

The midfield duo of Paul McStay and John Collins were integral to Celtic's attractive football and Jackie McNamara and Simon Donnelly won praise for their link-up play on the right.

[16] During this time, the club was under pressure to invest heavily in playing talent – particularly from the fans – to thwart Rangers' attempts to equal and surpass the nine-in-a-row record Celtic held.

[1] McCann was often criticised by the fans and media for his perceived frugality,[1] but further signings were made in 1996, with Portuguese striker Jorge Cadete[17] and Italian winger Paolo Di Canio[18] arriving at Celtic Park.

[21] McCann refused to cave in to what he considered the excessive demands of these foreign mercurial talents and, to the frustration of fans, the three each left the club under a cloud, albeit for large transfer fees.

Scottish internationalists Darren Jackson and Craig Burley were Jansen's first signings, closely followed by Dutch winger Regi Blinker, Danish centre-half Marc Rieper and, more significantly, Swedish attacker Henrik Larsson from Feyenoord in a £650,000 deal.

Marc Rieper and Alan Stubbs quickly formed an impressive understanding in central defence,[29] while Craig Burley proved to be a revelation in midfield with his energetic play and important goals.

[35] Despite the triumph, the title-winning celebrations soon soured when Wim Jansen made good his long held threat to resign,[36] after difficulties working with Jock Brown and Fergus McCann.

Many fans, swayed doubtless by the local media, were disappointed and angry at the decision, citing Vengloš' poor record whilst in charge of English club Aston Villa some years before.

[44] Players did, however, begin to arrive in the late autumn: Norwegian defender Vidar Riseth, Swedish defensive midfielder Johan Mjällby, Slovakian play-maker Ľubomír Moravčík and Australian striker Mark Viduka all joined.

Following a series of poor results – including elimination from the UEFA Cup and a broken leg away against Lyon for Henrik Larsson[59][60] – Rangers increased their lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League table and demands for Barnes to be sacked began.

[72] However, Hiddink's apparent lack of interest in the Celtic post[73] and the intervention of majority shareholder Dermot Desmond saw Leicester City manager Martin O'Neill come to the fore as the club's primary target.

[142] The return match in Spain saw Celtic fielding 19-year-old reserve goalkeeper David Marshall in place of Douglas and young defender John Kennedy standing in for Bobo Baldé, who was also suspended.

[171] His appointment was approved by a large majority of shareholders, though many fans opposed the motion at Celtic's annual general meeting over Reid's role in the British Government during the Iraq War.

[citation needed] Despite a big squad shake-up in the January transfer window, including the departure of club captain Stephen McManus (loaned to Middlesbrough),[201] leading goalscorer Scott McDonald,[202] Barry Robson,[202] the newly acquired Danny Fox[203] and a number of other fringe players; and the bringing in of Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane,[204] Diomansy Kamara[205] and others, Tony Mowbray was sacked by the club the day after their 4–0 defeat by St Mirren on 24 March 2010 and Neil Lennon took charge for the remainder of the 2009–10 season.

Scottish Labour leader, Iain Gray, described the act as "terrorism" and First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond said that, "It is time to remember what we value in society, and unite to condemn those who use football as a pretext for their pathetic and dangerous prejudices.

[275] Motherwell, Inverness Caley Thistle and briefly Hibernian all either had spells at the top of the table, or thereabouts, but by Christmas Celtic had found a steady run of form to pull themselves comfortably clear of the pack.

[287] As such, an Ultras styled section of the Celtic support called the Green Brigade organised a full stadium pre-match card display (a tifo) to celebrate the club's 125th anniversary.

[297] Neil Lennon rebuilt his squad by signing Virgil van Dijk and Amido Baldé in the summer, and Teemu Pukki from Schalke 04 on transfer deadline day.

[323] After going unbeaten on a pre-season tour in Austria,[324] Deila's first competitive match as manager of Celtic, a Champions League qualifying tie away against KR Reykjavik on 15 July 2014, ended in a 1–0 win with midfielder Callum McGregor scoring the decisive goal on 84 minutes.

[353][354] Although Celtic had been generally mediocre, striker Leigh Griffiths had an outstanding season, scoring 40 goals and winning both the PFA Scotland and Scottish Football Writers' Association Player of the Year awards.

[355] The season also saw 18 year old Kieran Tierney emerge as one of the most promising prospects in Scottish football, establishing himself as first-choice left-back at Celtic and making his full international debut for Scotland.

[363][364] Celtic quickly found their feet though, winning the second leg 3–0 and going on to eliminate Astana and Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the subsequent qualifying rounds to progress into the Champions League group stages for the first time since 2013.

[372] Celtic continued their unbeaten run in domestic competitions into the New Year,[373] during which time the club won their 100th major trophy, defeating Aberdeen 3–0 in the League Cup Final on 27 November 2016.

[396] Into the first full season of his second spell as manager, Neil Lennon led Celtic to a 1–0 win over Rangers in the 2019 Scottish League Cup Final, the club's tenth consecutive domestic trophy.

[399] During the group stages, Celtic twice defeated Lazio (2–1 in both games), with Olivier Ntcham's injury time winning goal in Rome clinching the club's first ever competitive victory in Italy.

Celtic suffered a string of disappointing results in European competition, exiting the Champions League in a 2–1 home defeat to Hungarian side Ferencvárosi TC in the Second Qualifying Round.

After starting the league campaign well, Celtic began to falter dramatically; losing to Rangers in the opening derby in the season, and also dropping points away to Kilmarnock, Aberdeen and Hibernian before the end of November.

Celtic drew both those games, and after further defeats to St Mirren and Ross County, they were left 18 points behind league leaders Rangers by late February - all but ending the club's hopes of "ten in a row".